


Trouble

by t4l3r



Series: Staying Away [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: I did not go into details with that scene but it's still there, M/M, POV First Person, There is a non graphic rape scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 19:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13037664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t4l3r/pseuds/t4l3r
Summary: Originally posted on FF as Can't Stay Away: TroubleJan 19th to Feb 11th 2011There is a rape scene but I tried to keep it as non-graphic as possible.It was originally broken up in 10 parts but everything is posted here in one go.





	Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on FF as Can't Stay Away: Trouble  
> Jan 19th to Feb 11th 2011  
> There is a rape scene but I tried to keep it as non-graphic as possible.  
> It was originally broken up in 10 parts but everything is posted here in one go.

* * *

**PROLOGUE:**

* * *

 

Waking up from what I'm sure is just another brilliant dream, I realize I'm in Jack's bed, almost naked. It wasn't a dream... all of it...

Than I feel lips on my shoulder. "Hey."

"Jack?"

"Expecting someone else?"

"Uh...Teal'c?"

Jack narrows his eyes. Is that a jealously I'm seeing?

"Jack relax, I'm kidding."

His expression quickly changes to a bright smile as he sighs in relief. "Thank god..." He leans down to kiss me, which I quickly comply to.

"I love you."

I feel my cheeks start to heat as I manage to say "I love you too, Mr. Jealous."

"Ah jeez, can you blame me? You are one hot geek, especially when you blush."

That just makes me blush further, while he chuckles. It's so strange getting compliments... especially things like that... God Jack...

He gets and starts heading for the door when I see he's already dressed in a white V-Neck shirt and gray sweats. "I'm going to go get breakfast, okay?"

"Coffee?"

He lets out another chuckle, and points to the mug on the nightstand. All I can do is smile as I grab it and end up burning my tongue after the first sip. With a wide smile, Jack is suddenly putting the mug back on nightstand and kissing me again.

"Better?"

"Huh?"

"Your tongue."

My tongue? Huh? What about... Oh right I burned it. I slowly nod. God can he kiss.

"Be right back alright?"

Finding my voice again, I manage to stutter "Okay."

With a final kiss on my cheek he leaves the room.

Slowly standing up, with the coffee I go to pick up the box he's left on his dresser. I can't believe it. He's mine... All mine.

Quickly finishing the coffee, using the bathroom and getting dressed, I go to find Jack. I walk into the kitchen to see him putting Belgian waffles, fried eggs, and sausages on a plate, singing along fairly horribly to some classic rock on the radio.

For reasons unknown, I love him... bad singing and all.

Looking up with a grin, the Colonel – my Colonel – walks up to walks up to me, kissing me deeply. "You didn't have to come down you know? I would have come up with the food."

I let him lead me into the chair at the table. "You didn't have to."

"Eh."

"Did you eat?"

"I was going to eat with you." He than pointed to the Fruit Loops on the table.

Picking up the box at the other end of the table to read the contents, I can't help to wrinkle my nose. "God, how do you eat this stuff every morning?"

Jack simply shrugs. He starts to cut a piece of sausage and lifts the fork as if to put it in my mouth. Seeing my frown, he slowly places the fork back down and starts massaging my shoulders.

I let out a small moan and lean in. This feels good. Who knew he'd be so good with his fingers... and his tongue even for that matter. I quickly switch gears before I can end up blushing and start reacting in other ways as I'm starting to think about the way he kisses, amongst other things... "If you don't stop we'll never eat you know."

With that, Jack opts to sit across from me to watch me eat. It doesn't pass by me that he's mostly ignoring his food to just stare at me eating. I don't know why but that makes me feel... warm inside.

Taking the plate when finished, he says, "I love you."

I don't bother to fight or hide the smile that's forming on my lips. I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing those words from him. "I love you, too." Or saying it to him either... I just wish...

In an instant, there's a strong pair of hands prying my arms apart and away from my chest. I'm then being pulled into a firm hold. "Talk to me."

The surprise of Jack actually wanting to talk about something, much less my emotional problems makes me look up.

I can't believe it. Even after what's happened the past couple of days... It's strange, yet comforting.

Seeing the serious yet loving expression, all I can do is bury my face at the nook of his neck.

Rubbing my back, he goes on holding me for a few more minutes.

"Danny?"

Taking a deep breath, I slowly move away and start to play with a few strands of the chest hairs that's poking out of his shirt, just to have something to do with my hands. Of course the fact that I've always had this sort of thing for chest hair doesn't hurt either.

He than moves his hands to cup my face and looks into my eyes. "Hey, it's okay. You can talk to me. I know I'm not always easy in that department but..."

"It's nothing."

"To hell it is."

"Jack... I can't do this..." It comes out all in a rush.

There's a sudden fear in his eyes, which he quickly controls using his Special Ops training no doubt.

"Daniel..."

"Look I don't have the best luck in this... besides I'm a magnet for trouble... You said so yourself."

"I'm not leaving you. I promised I won't let you go, and it's one I intend on keeping."

And you never break your promises do you? God... I wish I wasn't like this... so vulnerable.

"Hey, come here."

He pulls me into a strong hold again. Don't let this end... please...

 

* * *

**One: Hathor**

* * *

 

Cold... What the... Where am I? Jack? Why am I so cold? Jack?

"It's okay, Dr. Jackson."

Huh? Who are you?

"You're in the SGC. You're going to be fine."

What? Jack? Where's Jack? I want Jack...

"Welcome back, Dr. Jackson. I wouldn't try to speak just yet." What? Huh? Who are you? You guys don't work at the SGC...

"My name is Dr. Raully and this is Major General Trofksy. You've just come out of cryogenic suspension."

Cryogenic suspension? What the...

"Jack?" Where is he?

"I'm regret to inform you Dr. Jackson that everyone from your team," Trofksy looks down to read from a piece of paper, "Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, and the Jaffa called Teal'c are all didn't make." He looks up at the Raully. "In fact, it's the year 2077."

What? No... NO! He can't be... Jack? Dead? But he promised... He swore he would never... What's going on?

**~!~**

Sleep... I want to just sleep and never wake up. This can NOT be happening... It's the year 2077 and everyone's gone. Now I've got this General what's-his-name asking me questions about how I managed to get myself in suspension and everything. I thought we would have defeated the Goa'uld by now.

"Daniel..." Huh? "Daniel!" I look up to see Jack dangling the IV think that's been hooked up to my shoulder and Sam next to him.

Jack... Hmm... Finally, this nightmare's turning into something I can live with. I must be dead... again and this time for good. Can't be another dream... because usually I'm dreaming about just Jack all naked amongst other things.

Wait... I've been dead before... It was never like this...

"I don't understand, they said..."

"They're Goa'uld, Daniel."

Goa'uld? Oh okay... That explains a lot... I think...

"What year is it?"

"1999 more than likely."

"So this is all a hoax?"

"Big hoax, I'd say so." God Jack... I thought... You're alive? What the... Were you always this hot? Can I take off your clothes now? Oh wait no... Sam's here... Why are you here Sam? Go away... Ugh... Better not, Daniel, remember where you are. Goa'uld remember? Bad.

"I have more questions but that can wait." Like can we get the hell out of here so I can go have... sex with Jack!

"Uh, Carter? Do you mind..."

I see Sam start to blush. "Oh... I'll just..." She points to the entrance and walks off to keep guard. Luckily she knows about us so she knew we needed our moment. Of course she didn't know for sure until Teal'c started the conversation back when we went back to 1969 through the Stargate. In fact Jack and I had both denied it until Sam had mentioned that since we were all technically in 1969, we weren't in a relationship yet. So, following that confusing logic, it was all confirmed.

Meanwhile Jack's running his fingers through my hair. I start to comment on the shortness of it but I'm cut off by him locking his lips on mine. We don't stop until we run out of air and just stare at each other, catching our breaths.

"Danny-"

His words are cut off when we hear heavy footsteps in the distance.

"We'd better... Holy!" Sam's suddenly turning around with her face and ears completely bright red.

Jack and I look at each other than I look down. The sheet that was used to cover me is now on the floor leaving me pretty exposed with half a hard on. This leads me to turn bright red and bury my face in Jack's neck with a groan.

This is so embarrassing...

"Oh for crying out... Daniel, come on." Jack's got a strange expression that seems to be a mix of amusement, embarrassment, jealously (mostly jealously) on his face as he finds a green BDU replica and throws them at me.

**~!~**

Oh god... Hathor's putting a Goa'uld in him... Why can't I move? No! Jack! Please... I need to save him... Why am I frozen? Why am I so scared? I have to move... Shit... Dammit! Jack!

It's inside him...

I couldn't save him... All I'm doing is just standing here frozen... Why am I just watching! I should do something! Anything!

No! I'm so sorry Jack...

Why are you with me in the first place? I can't even protect you... Why do you always have to be the savior of this relationship?

There's suddenly the sound of guns firing and Sam and I are being led away.

Don't worry... When this is all over, you won't have to worry about me being such a burden anymore...

**~!~**

We're saved by Makepeace and a group of marines from the Jaffa that's leading us through the hallways. They have spare camouflage BDUs which we quickly change into. It's when I'm putting on the jacket while we start to walk when an image flashes into my head. I start to remember taking a set of BDUs off of Jack just like these in on of these in one of the SGC's storage closet...

No... Now's not the time...

"ETA is five minutes."

"Sir, there's something happening back here!"

"Razor, come in Razor. SG-3 we have lost radio contact, please respond."

"What's the situation?"

"My team was covering the Stargate. Lieutenant, pass the word, we're moving out."

What? Moving out? "Wait, wait! What about Jack?"

"He's a casualty."

No... We can't... This is all my fault! I should have become the host not Jack. Now he's stuck here to rot as a slave... Just like... No!

**~!~**

Trofksy's going to kill us. God... I don't want to others to die. Me? He can kill me. It's not like it's going to be much of a life without Jack. I'm sorry Jack. I know I decided to break up once we were safe and back home but there doesn't seem to be much hope left. We're all dead. I failed...

Than all of the sudden there's someone walking up to us. Jack? Is that you? It is you! Thank God! You're okay! I love you...

"Jaffa Kree!"

No... That's not Jack. It's the Goa'uld... It should be me enslaved...

I hear Trofksy taking but I barely register it.

"You heard me, I said Kree!"

Can't be... "Jack?"

"Hey guys. Makepeace, nice rescue. Good job."

It is you! You're okay! God I love you.

I take it back... I don't want to leave you. I need you. God look at you. You're so gorgeous. Can we go home now?

Wait what? You killed Hathor? Oh jeez. You always said you were going to kill her, even though I'd rather not you killing anyone for me. I don't care though. You're safe!

"Get down!"

I quickly duck as he starts shooting. Than I hear Sam yelling and a second later I see Jack barely dive away from a blast. Please don't die!

There's more shooting and blasts as Trofsky and Jaffa surrender.

I manage to trot behind Bra'tac towards Jack who's got Sam trailing behind. I fight the urge to just want to run up to him, grab him, and never let go. Can't forget where we are.

Teal'c and General Hammond starts to walk up to us. Wow. General Hammond came to save us? It's so strange seeing him here but I don't care. He helped us. Jack's alive.

"Danny." He's puts a hand on my head to muse my hair. "Looking good."

"Jack..."

"Yea..."

He pulls me in for a hug. I let him hold me. We really shouldn't but I don't care...

He than whispers the words I can't survive without. "I love you, Space Monkey."

"I love you, too."

 

* * *

**Two: The Nightmare**

* * *

 

 

With the usual checks at the infirmary and the debriefing done, and just about finished at the locker room, there was really no one left except Jack and myself. I was tying my shoe when I heard him close his locker and move a little closer to me.

"Hey, Danny, I was thinking-"

"Jack." Jeez, I can't look at him. How can I? "I'm going to go to my apartment okay? I just..." Not knowing what else to say, I just grab the last of my things and leave.

**~!~**

It's strange, I don't remember getting here. I barely remember emptying out my fish tank. We've been gone for almost a month, and since I hadn't asked for someone to look for them this long, they were all dead. Since I got here, I basically had done whatever chores were needed to keep busy. Anything to avoid thinking.

By the time I'm done with everything, I realize the sun's already gone. Huh, it's only 8:30. Now what? I could go to... No. I can't go.

How can I? Sure I was glad to see him when he turned up to be alive, with no Goa'uld in him. There shouldn't have been one in him in the first place! Jesus... I was practically suicidal throughout it all. I don't want to loose him. Only how can I possibly be with him?

He shouldn't be with me. How many times has he complained about me touching some alien technology that's gotten us into trouble? Or that I think to much? He's even tried to be patient when I get carried away with translations or finding the details of a new civilization that we've encountered. Being patient's never been his strong suit either. God. He's given me everything, and what have I returned? Nothing but something to complain and worry about. He'll leave me. They always do.

"You're right."

"Jack?" When did he get here? How did I not notice.

"You're right. You're to much trouble. I'm going."

"Going? What? No!"

"You're not worth it Daniel. Besides, I found someone else. Someone that meets my needs."

What? How? It's impossible. I run through the past couple of years. There's no way. Even when we were just friends, there wasn't any time for him to meet someone. Dare I ask?

As I start to ask, she comes and stands by Jack's side. Impossible! She's... dead! Jack killed her. He told me! Sam confirmed it! No!

"You have greatly disappointed us, Our Love."

"Jack... But..."

His eyes suddenly glow.

"Danyel."

I whirl around to see Sha're with Skaara besides her.

"Why, My Danyel?"

"You promised Danyel. Why have you broken your promises? Why have you also forsaken O'Neill?"

This isn't happening.

"Daniel." No... You're not real.

"Danny!"

I jolt up to someone shaking me. What the...

"It's okay. Danny it's okay." What the... Jack. No... Goa'uld.

"Get away from me!"

"Woah Danny, Danny!" I try to run but he grabs my arm and spins me around.

Gripping my shoulders, he says, "It's was just a nightmare."

"Nightmare?"

"Yeah, bad dream."

"Jack?"

"Shhh, it's okay. I've got you."

**~!~**

I'm not sure how long we sat on my couch, with him holding me. Honestly I didn't really care. I was just glad he was.

"Better?"

All I can do is nod. Some more time passes. "Sorry..."

"Seriously, Danny, you have to stop being sorry for things that aren't your fault."

But it is my fault... You shouldn't have to be here holding me because of some stupid nightmare I had...

Taking a deep breath, I manage to gather the courage in order to go the bedroom. From there, I pull out a duffel bag and start throwing in everything that I can fit in there. I don't want to do this, but I have to.

"Danny? What are you doing?"

Don't answer him. Don't even look at him. It's better this way. He doesn't need me.

"Woah, Danny!" I'm forced to stop as he's grabbing me by the arms again. There's confusion and fear written all over his face.

"Let me go Jack." My voice is strangely flat, which I suppose is good, all things considering.

Aww, jeez, don't do that... He's got that pained expression like he's been stabbed in the chest again. Only this time it's worse.

All we can do is stare at each other for a long moment before he lets go of my arms. I quickly turn around to finish packing as a knot starts to build at my throat. He'll leave me. I know he will.

"Don't do this. Please... Danny..."

I stop at the doorway. I can't do this... Why do I put him through this? I never should have told him that I fell for him. Crap, why can't I move? A part of me wants to run, anywhere. I don't really care, as long as it was safe. Another part wants to stay, but that would be selfish, wouldn't it? Jack'll be able to move on. I'm holding him back. He's better now. Maybe he and Sara could work things out now.

"Danny." His voice though barely audible, the fear and misery clear in his voice. It still makes me jump at the sound of it.

What am I doing? I see myself opening the door of the apartment to leave. Jack... Don't let me... The door's suddenly slamming shut as I'm being whirled around to be pressed against the door. I start to struggle a bit.

"I won't let you, Danny."

 

* * *

**Three: Jack's Paranoia**

* * *

 

 

It was the middle of the night when I opened my eyes. I'm in bed. Huh, I must have fallen asleep again. It's than I notice Jack is halfway on top of me with his head pressed against my chest. Why am I…? Oh right, we had, uh, amazing sex. I move my hand so I can run my hand through his hair. He slightly stiffens at my movement but quickly relaxes once realizing I was awake. He shifts a little to get a firmer grip on me. Great… A wave of guilt runs through me. He's scared that he's going to lose me. That's when I feel something wet hit my torso.

"Jack? Are you crying?" What the… I can't remember the last time I've seen him cry. Oh, god. He's not scared… He's terrified. Beyond terrified.

The only answer I get is him moving as close as possible to me and locking his leg around both of mine so I couldn't really move anything besides my arms. I think he would've tightened his grip on me further but I'm sure he was worried he might end up suffocating me. All I can really do is hold him.

More time passes when I feel Jack exhale heavily and starts to talk with a shaky voice. "Danny… I don't want to loose you. I can't."

"Jack I won't leave you… I swear." How can I? Jeez, I've never seen you like this.

"You… you died again."

"No I…" Wait, yes I did. Crap. They told us everyone else was dead. Fuck. How could I have been so thoughtless? After a mission where he thought I was dead, how could I just leave him in the locker room? How could I pack my things right in front of him and start to walk out the door? There's more silence. "I'm sorry."

Jack starts to move so he's on top of me. He's careful to leave as much of his weight off of me as much as possible. "Don't you dare start feeling guilty, not now."

"Jack-"

I'm cut off with him leaning over to lay one of his bigger kisses on me, the one that usually leaves me feeling warm and my knees weak.

**~!~**

I woke up to Jack shaking me awake. I let out a groan. "I'm sleeping Jack."

"Danny…"

I looked up to see a small pleading expression on Jack's face. His eyes darted towards the door than back at me. Letting out a sigh, I got out of bed and walked with him to the bathroom so he could use it without having me out of his sight.

I'm not surprised by this. He's had a few clingy moments before, after missions where in some form or another that ended up with me getting hurt since we got together (okay, so it's more than a few with my record but still!). During those times he would just follow me everywhere like a lost puppy for about a day or so to make sure I was okay. It wasn't so bad actually. At least he was able to go to the bathroom alone and I was able to tease him here and there. This time though was different.

Jeez, how could I be so stupid? Congratulations, Daniel Jackson, you've pretty much scared the man you love so much that it's practically become paranoia.

We eventually end up going to the kitchen where Jack starts the coffee. It takes a bit longer than usual because he's mainly using one hand for the coffee and the other to hold one of mine. I actually had to assist him with my free hand when both hands were needed here and there.

Jack leans against the counter to look at me while the coffee's brewing. All I can do is let out a sigh as I lean into so he could hold me. God this is my fault.

"Danny." I'm being lightly shaken again. "Wake up." There's slight amusement in Jack's voice that makes me jerk my head up to look at him. There's a small weak smile on his lips.

"What?" Oh god, I must have fallen back asleep when I leaned into him while waiting for the coffee.

"Only you could pull off going to sleep standing up. What would you do if you didn't have me to catch you from falling?"

I just shrug as I pour myself some coffee and drink it. We just stand there while I go through about three cups. As usual, Jack's just watching me. When I look up, he's got a small smile on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing." He starts to move to nibble my ear. God that feels good.

**~!~**

"Hey I was thinking…"

"Thinking's dangerous… you always said." I was still feeling a bit light-headed from what we just did. God… I still have a hard time believing I'm the first guy he's really done anything with. According to him, the most he's ever done was make-out with one guy a couple of times but wow.

"Yeah, well." Jack started to shift so he could leave a trail of kisses from my stomach to lips. "How about we get away from here for a while? Away from Colorado, anywhere you want. No brass, no Stargate and definitively no snakeheads. No interruptions, just us."

"Jack, we only have a week off. We can't really go anywhere with the timing."

"So? We've played hookey before. I'll figure something out to tell the General why we're not back within the week. C'mon, anywhere you want. We'll go to Egypt even. You've told me you always wanted to go back right? Or we can go to the Hershey Park. I've been meaning to take you there anyways." He lets out a chuckle. "It's your personal Disney World!"

Heh… He's got me there. I do love chocolate. "Anywhere I want?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let's go to the cabin."

Jack raises an eyebrow, a poor attempt at trying to imitate Teal'c. "You're turning down a trip to chocolate heaven?"

With a shrug, I just say "I like being at the cabin. Besides, I really don't care where we are." It's true… As long as Jack was with me without interruption, I was fine just about anywhere.

"Cabin it is."

 

* * *

**Four: Pit Stop**

* * *

 

 

Ugh…Why does my head hurt? Where am I? What's going on?

Voices… Jack? No not Jack…

"What the hell are you so afraid of, huh? It's bastard scum like them that's ruining society, you're not going to let them get away with it are you?"

"No of course not but-"

"But what?"

"For Christ sake Jeff one of them is Military!"

"Which is more the reason to get rid of them ya coward!"

What? Huh? Jack? What the… Who are these guys? Where's Jack?

**~!~**

"Danny? Daniel!"

"Jack?"

"Thank god! Are you okay?"

All I can do is groan. My head… Why is everything blurred? Glasses… Where are my glasses? Great I have to get them replaced again.

I look up to see Jack sitting next to what looks like a radiator. I try to move closer but I hear rattling and something pulling my arm by the wrist. That's when I realize I've been cuffed to a pipe. I look back at Jack. He lifts the arm closer to the radiator, resulting in a rattling from being cuffed himself. Oh god… We're trapped…

"Jack?"

I hear him force a chuckle and saying "I can't take you anywhere." He's trying to stay lighthearted which is pretty much useless given our situation.

"I… Jack… What…" Anything else I'm going to say is pretty much stopped by me vomiting some partially digested food and stomach acid.

"Danny, I think you-"

"Don't say it…" I wonder how many concussions a person can have before they end up a vegetable or something… God why am I even thinking like this? Jeez…

"Danny? Hey Danny stay with me!"

"What? Jack, where are we?"

"I'm not sure. We can't be too far off from the gas station. What's the last thing you remember?"

" _Hey, I have to go to the restroom. Want me to get anything from the store?" We had stopped at a gas station that had a small store that sold different junk food, drinks, and a few other things. When I looked up he had a small look of fear on his face. He was still scared of me going out of his sight and never coming back._

" _Jack I'm not going to disappear. We're not on… We're not at work; we're at a gas station. There's nothing to shoot at me okay?" I ran my thumb across his lower lip and kissed him. When I pulled back there was some shock in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. I was never one for public displays of affection, even when we were far enough away from home that it was unlikely we'd get caught by anyone important, so for me to initiate it was a big deal. Actually, I think this is the first time. "Just using their restroom okay?" I wait as he reluctantly nods._

_I give him a smile before I walk off. I finish my business and on my way out I bump into someone. "Oh, sorry."_

" _You'd better be."_

" _Um… Yes I am. Now excuse-"_

" _There's no excuse for faggots like you."_

_Wait what? I take a proper look at the guy I bumped into. He was dressed in a red shirt, jeans, and a light windbreaker. He's also got a heated expression of hate written on his face._

" _Look, I'm just passing by. I'm not trying to cause trouble."_

"I can't remember anything after that… Jack?"

I try to keep everything under control as far as my emotions go but the truth was I was scared. Sure I've been on other planets, been shot at countless times by aliens, hell I've died a few times! You'd think, a couple of homophobic thugs that locked me to one side of the room while my boyfriend was locked on the other would be no big deal… But it is a big deal. This is my fault… I shouldn't have kissed him when I did… This is bad. Just because they weren't aliens or we weren't on a different planet doesn't make these guys any less of a threat. They could kill us! God, Jack would die in some unknown hellhole all because of me. I never should have told him… Never should have agreed to go out with him… He shouldn't have to worry…

"Danny! Hey!"

"Huh?"

"Danny, you stop that right now!"

"Stop what?"

"That guilt trip you always put yourself through! This isn't your fault!"

"Yes it-"

"For crying out loud, Danny, we're going to have a serious talk after we get out of here."

"If we-"

"Danny!"

**~!~**

I'm not sure how long we were just sitting here, but I'm thinking it felt a lot longer than it really was. I don't know how Jack could be staying so still acting calm like this. Then again, he was military and he does have the training and experience of far worse that still give him the occasional nightmare. Even with the training though, he must be as frustrated and scared as I am.

Needing something to keep my mind occupied, I started to look carefully at the hand cuffs that were tying me down. It took a bit longer than it normally would have if I had my glasses on, but I'll take what I can get at this point if it means getting both of us out of here.

It was when I started to look around me when I heard Jack ask, "What are you looking for?"

"Um… you wouldn't happen to see a piece of wire do you? Like a paper clip?"

"Danny?"

I don't bother to look up but continue searching. "Hmmm?"

"Danny! Why would you need a wire?"

Looking up I just answer, "To unlock my cuffs," before going back to my search. I can't believe I haven't thought of this earlier. But then, it has been quite a while since I've picked a lock, let alone even think of even doing it.

"Wait, are you telling me you know how to pick locks?"

"Yeah, don't you?" Actually now I think of it, I'm a bit surprise Jack didn't think of this before I did.

"Um, no… Where in the hell did you learn that?"

No? I look up to see a blurred outline of Jack's disbelieving figure. Holy… "How do you not know how to pick a lock? You're a former Black-Ops Colonel in the Air Force!"

I watch as he swifts uncomfortably. "It's never come… Look that's beside the point! What about you! You're the one who always had his nose in a book!"

Not really in the mood to dig up my history at the moment, I just snap, "Are we going to argue-"

"Shut the fuck up!"

* * *

**Five: Wake Up**

* * *

 

 

A guy that was roughly Jack's height, maybe taller walked in. He was dressed in worn out jeans, a white t-shirt, and sneakers, all sporting spots of grease. I couldn't really tell what his face looked like except that he had a swollen nose, a few bruises on his cheek chin on the left side, and a black eye. It wasn't the guy I had run into at the Gas Station named Jeff or the guy I had heard being yelling at him earlier when I had a few moments of consciousness. Crap… How many of these guys were there that was keeping us locked up like this?

I watch as he walks over to Jack and punch him.

"You fucken fagwhore, you ruined my face!"

"Well, to be fair, it wasn't a good one to begin with." Damn it Jack, are you trying to get us killed here?

"You calling me ugly?" All I can do is sit there as he starts a round of punches. There's nothing I can do but beg him to stop hurting Jack.

Then he's coming towards me and punches me in the nose. I feel a drip of something wet coming from it and look down a little to see it was blood dropping down. He grabs my head by my hair to look me in the eye. There's a cold laugh coming from his throat. "Well ain't you a pretty one? Let me guess you're the bitch of the disgusting ass-fucking you whores like to do right?"

"Leave him alone."

The guy looks over at Jack with a crooked smile. "Or what? How you ganna defend this wimp of a girlfriend of yours huh?" Turning back towards me, and says "How about we give that boyfriend of yours a show, huh?"

I'm suddenly jerked towards the floor so I'm awkwardly positioned on my hands and knees. Then there's the sound of a belt buckle being unfastened. "Jack?" I start to panic and try to get up but I'm being forced back down. I can hear Jack shouting but I can't hear what he's saying. I can feel myself start to hyperventilate as I try to call for Jack. There's a sudden flash of one of the foster homes I was in which I try to ignore as I concentrate on breathing. As I try to focus on everything around me, I hear more voices and shuffling. The last thing I'm aware of is someone calling my name.

~!~

Sobbing... Who's sobbing? Tired… Hmm, sleep, need sleep. Where's Jack? Damn it Jack, you know I like it when you're around to keep me warm…

"Danny? Oh Jesus, Danny, wake up! Please! Daniel!"

Jack? Wake up? Why are you crying?

The first thing I'm really aware of is Jack's arms around me. I'd know his arms surrounding me anywhere. Only what's different about this is that it's different. It isn't the snug secure pair of arms that hold me to make me feel better and help me through a rough time. No, this has more to do with his fear not mine.

"Jack? What's wrong?"

"Danny?" He lets out a shaky breath and gets a tight grip on me, mumbling what sounds like 'Thanks God.'

When the grip starts getting to tight, I struggle a bit. "Jack can't… breathe."

"What? Oh right, sorry." He pulls away just enough so I can breathe and look in to my eyes. Mmm, I love the eyes are so chocolate brown. I don't know how long it is that we're locked like this but it doesn't break until I move in for a kiss. We finally manage to break after a while only out of necessity to breathe.

I can't help but smile. This leads to one of Jack's gorgeous that's reserved specifically for me. This only makes me blush and make me go a bit weak. Sighing happily we both settle down to a comfortable spot that lets us be in each other's arms yet still be able to look at each other, especially the eyes. Just as I can easily get lost in his chocolate ones, he can get lost in my blue ones. Everything else is pretty much forgotten as I let him hold me.

Jack finally breaks the silence. "So was it…" His question is left unfinished as a frown of anger washes over his face. He doesn't need to finish it either.

I shake my head. The nightmare was already mostly gone. A part of me wants to remember, knew it was important, but there's something keeping me here. It's safe. I'm always safe with Jack. "It wasn't Hath-" I stop quickly seeing the pure anger and hatred written all over him. "Jack it's okay, she's dead remember? You killed her." I reach up to cup his face to try and calm him down.

It's while doing this, I remember what woke me up.

"Jack, why were you…" I find my voice fading as I find no trace of him having sobbed the way I heard. There were no remnants of dried tears of any sort. I slowly reach up to feel his cheek. I could have sworn he was crying. "Jack?"

"So what was it? The nightmare, I mean it looked like a really bad one from, too. Jeez. I thought you'd never wake up."

Slowly everything comes back to me. Hathor, Jack becoming a Goa'uld, having him following me around and not letting go further than half an arm's length away, the gas… station…

Wait… We're in bed…

I'm bolting up now to take a good look around my surrounds. We're in the bedroom of the cabin. But how can we…?

"Danny?"

"What's going on?"

Jack cautiously comes up to me. He has worry, fear and confusion written on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean how did we get here?"

"We drove here. Don't you remember?"

"But… at the gas station. There was a man…"

"What man?" Worry is etched on his face and a look in his eyes like he's trying to decide to be jealous or not.

Something's not right…

"Danny… Please… I need you."

I start to say that I need him to when I stop myself. I heard him say it and saw the words come out of his mouth but it was wrong. The way he said it didn't match his expression at all. The Jack I'm looking at isn't the Jack I had just heard.

"Jack?"

"C'mon, you can't do this to me. What am I going to do without my Monkey to take care of, huh?"

It's then that a wave of what seems like fog surrounds me and everything's gone black.

 

* * *

**Six: Comatose**

* * *

 

There's noise, but it sounds really distant and foggy. It's like trying to listen in on a conversation through a wall or thick door. What's that beeping? Ugh my head. Someone stop that beeping!

All of the sudden I hear "He's not in a coma, per se. It's…" than just as quickly as it had come so clearly it was gone. Was that Janet?

Where am I? It's dark, so dark.

I try to remember what happened but I can't think. My head is pounding, but it's not so much a pained beating. No, this feels more like someone stuffed my head with a wad of cotton balls inside it and just putting heavy and uncomfortable pressure on it in small pulsing bursts. God, will someone turn off that damn annoying beeping!

Then the voices start to fade in and out again.

"Let go of me!"

"Sir you have to…"

"O'Neill, DanielJackson would-"

"No! I refuse to just lie around and do nothing while he's hurt!"

Jack?

"Andrew, get me…"

What the… Something's wrong. Who's hurt? Beeping – Make it stop!

Jack… Something's wrong with him. Why does he sound like that?

There's more fog while things starts to go quiet and dark again. It's oddly comforting here. There's a warm fuzzy feeling I can't describe. It's that dream-like state in your sleep where you know you're warm, safe, and loved. I want to stay.

Only, something in me knows that I can't. I want to but no. I can't. Concentrate.

The bits of pieces of conversation I heard starts to register.

The chaos of beeping and different shuffling starts to filter in again.

It's then everything begins to become clearer; the noise around me, the slow awareness of different aches, sores and heaviness of my body.

Slowly I try to open my eyes but this blinding light force them back shut.

"Doc? Hey Doc! He's awake!"

Jack? No not Jack…

I hear feet shuffling and a chair scraping back as if someone was standing up and pushing it away to make room for another person.

"Daniel? It's Janet."

Janet? Taking in other noise, and the feeling of what I'm lying on, I begin to realize I must be back in the SGC's infirmary.

I try to talk but Janet's voice interrupts me. "Don't try to speak yet Daniel. Everything's going to be all right."

**~!~**

It's been a couple of hours, at least, since I've woken up. It turned out that it's was Lou Ferrati that was sitting by my bedside when I had woken up and called Janet. That was a bit of a surprise, not only because it wasn't Jack as was the norm, but because of the person sitting there was someone that I've never expected. Sure, we've gotten to know each other and have grown close enough to call each other friend but it was mainly due to the fact that our friendship was merely based on mutual experiences to that first trip to Abydos, our work and Jack. If anything it's always been a professional friendship and if it weren't for the fact that we were close to Jack in our own way, we wouldn't even have any sort of relationship outside of the SGC, if any at all.

Now, the checks with Janet were finally finished and things had finally calmed down. Lou had come back to let us know that Sam, Teal'c and General Hammond was waiting for my look-over to finish and went to check on one of his team members that had come in while I was being tended too. Apparently he was passing by one of the labs and had become one of the three victims of an experiment gone wrong. Luckily it wasn't anything serious. It was mainly just soreness, disorientation, and surprising some dehydration that was easily treated with a bag of fluids for all of them. There was also a large bruise on Bill Lee's arm from being knocked against something.

Throughout it all, all I could think of was Jack. He was lying on the usual bed next to mine whenever we were both needing one in the infirmary. Jack was just laying there, hooked up to different monitors, some IVs, and was bandaged up. Parts of his face were swollen from the beatings he received. The open cuts there though must have been fine enough because they were all left uncovered except one square bandage on his left cheek and one wrapped around his right wrist. Overall from what I could see of him, he looked like he's gone through one hell of a fight. He looked like he'd come back from a mission gone wrong. Not the worst, by far, but the damage was obvious.

"He's okay Daniel." Janet's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see her smiling. She also had what looked like the results of the tests she had run. "It's worse than it looks. The worst of his injuries are a mildly sprained shoulder and a couple of bruised ribs. We had to sedate him because that was the only way he'd get any proper rest. Honestly I'm amazed he even last that long fighting the exhaustion. It was you that had everyone worried."

After a few moments of silence and me drinking some water, she started to talk about my injuries. "You have a minor concussion that should be perfectly fine as long as you follow the routine. This is practically nothing if you compare it to your usual injuries. You don't have any sprains on your arm but that shoulder is going to be sore for a few days and I'd watch for infection on that wrist of yours. I doubt there will even be any scarring once it's completely healed."

Looking down, I idly rubbed at the bandage covering my left wrist from the wounds left behind from being cuffed. Then I looked back up at Janet. She had said that I was the one everyone had been worried about. But what she had just said…

My expression must have said something because there was some hesitation in her eyes before Janet continued. "You were comatose when you two were found and that was about fifty hours ago. The MRIs and Cat scans didn't come up with anything, including any physical reason behind why you were comatose. There was also…" Janet's expression then shifted again, her hesitation more evident. Her worry was clear, as if she was wondering if she should continue or if she had gone too far as is.

"What? Tell me." She just handed me the file in response. Looking down, there were notes on what she had just told me and that I had had stitches… God… I then remember what was happening right before everything goes dark. Then the realization hits me that Jack was forced to watch everything. Oh god… I tried to focus on finish reading the words as a distraction but they were shaking. That's when the files taken from me.

"Daniel, look at me." I look up and see Janet. "Okay, focus on me. Breathe. Just breathe." I struggle to do so and an oxygen mask is given to me. "It's okay Daniel. Just breathe."

 

* * *

**Seven: Recovery**

* * *

 

 

It wasn't too long after I had calmed down from my panic attack that Jack had woken up. Though Janet would have preferred that we stay in the infirmary at least until morning, Jack's insistent complaining and my want to just go home had let us out within the half hour. The next few weeks were spent ignoring the outside world, and basically what had happened. It was on silent mutual agreement that we just spend it in as normally as possible while on downtime. Well maybe 'normal' wasn't the word for it. The point was neither of us was ready to deal with anything just yet. Thus the time was spent being together and living in this bubble we had created while trying to act like everything was perfectly fine, like nothing had happened.

Every now and then people would drop by to see if we were okay. Mainly we just wanted to be left alone so after a week, everyone got the message and only came to see us to deliverer the progress of our attackers. Apparently it was one of our captors that had called the police that led to us being found. There were three of them. The caller and the man that I had bumped into coming out of the restroom at the gas station had been caught. While the man that had… well, been behind my stitches had escaped.

The media had been alerted on the situation but luckily cover-ups were a normal thing for anything and anyone involving the SGC. So anything being aired was limited or altered enough that we were protected. The picture of the man that got away was posted on the news with hot-lines for people to call in if he was spotted. The courts had requested that we testify but there was enough evidence to put them away without necessarily being involved. It was better that way.

Our wounds were getting better. The swelling from us being punched were completely gone. The bruises that Jack had were now varying shades of yellow and red, some of them already gone completely. All that was left from our wrists wounds were angry red colored scabs and the skin still a bit raw. Jack's shoulder had most of its mobility back but it was still stiff and had its moments. He still had to use the sling but only to give his arm some rest when needed. His ribs were still a bit tender but like his shoulder, as long as he was careful he was fine. As for me, well, other than the obvious wrist, I was almost completely back to normal. Thankfully Janet had used dis-solvable stitches so as long as I wasn't suffering from anything unusual I didn't need to be seen for it, which saved me from the embarrassment. The only thing I had to deal with at this point was the uncomfortable soreness and tenderness, along with still having to be careful as the stitches finished doing its work. Our healing progress was going well. Everything was as expected, faster with some wounds even. That is, physically it was.

It had been during lunch one day that something finally snapped in Jack. He had raised his glass to take a drink when he abruptly stopped, got up and threw it at the wall on his right with a frustrated scream. I tried to stay still but the flinch reflectively kicked in as he shouted and the glass broke apart spraying the floor with soda. He sighed as he saw me flinch and sank back onto his chair with a sigh. The force of Jack sitting caused the chair to be pushed slightly, resulting in a grinding sound by its legs going against the floor.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." I kept my eyes on the food before me, despite whatever appetite I had had disappeared with whatever grip Jack had on his emotions.

"No, it's not. Danny..."

"It wasn't your fault, it was-"

"Hey it wasn't-"

"I know it wasn't my fault! Neither of us is at fault! Damn it Jack! It was theirs. I'm just sick and tired of being beat, shot, kidnapped, tortured, killed, and god knows what else! I'm tired of having to hide being in love with you not only because of your fucken military rules but because we have idiot bigots that think they're better than us simply because we're different! What's the point! Huh? Tell me what the point of all this is. Why are do we go through the Stargate? What's the point of saving the planet countless of times when we have-" I let my voice just drift off as I couldn't find a way to finish my rant. By now I'm standing in front of Jack just watching him sit there with his withdrawn expression and slouch.

I don't know how long we spent like this, Jack frozen in his chair while I watch. We were both tired. Cabin-fever was kicking in and we haven't had sex in god knows how long. Exhaling heavily, I move to play with his hair. Jack hadn't made a move on me since we got home. It was understandable. If I was honest with myself, a part of me just didn't want it either. For the most part though, I just wished he'd do something, anything. For Christ's sake, just because my ass was still in its healing phase for another week didn't mean there wasn't anything else we could do.

"Jack..." As he looks up at me, I turn both the chair and him around just enough so there's room to straddle his lap. Before he can react, I tangle my fingers in his hair and kiss him. It takes a long moment but soon he's kissing me back. The kiss had started gently, fueled with nothing but love and the emotions of the past month being shed. It turned into something else completely when I felt myself shiver. Goosebumps covered my skin as I felt Jack's hands slip under my shirt and start to caress my lower back and sides. The kiss started to deepen and slowly but surely both of us hardening. I lowered my lips and kissed my way down to his neck, Jack lifting his chin to give me room to feast on it. A whimper soon filled my ears, fueling me for more. Our torsos were pressed as close as possible and our groins were grinding against each other when it all stopped.

"Danny... Wait..." I hear myself cry out in protest as he pushes me away enough so that there's breathing space and we can look at each other properly. "Sorry, I..." Sighing I start to move when I feel the arms around my waist tighten. "It's not that I don't want to..." I watch as my fingers trail down the front of his shirt causing Jack to now shiver. "God I want you..." He leans in to kiss me, one that ends all too quickly for me. "But..."

"Yeah." It was just too soon. We spend the next few minutes just sitting like this in content. It's when I see a purplish bruise start to appear on Jack's neck that I make the first move, brushing my fingers against the mark. "Sorry about that."

With a chuckle, he says, "Well I'm sure as hell not." Jack then let's out one of lustful smirks with pride written on his face. It's the first genuine expression of happiness I've seen on him in what seems like forever. I feel my face begin to heat as I'm mesmerized at just how sexy the man before me could be. Upon seeing me flush, Jack's grin widens to a bright smile. This just makes me flush further and bury my face in the crook of his neck and shoulder. "Aww Danny." I feel his arms wrap around me and draws me close to a warm hold. He then whispers, "I love you, so much."

With my own smile, I reply with "Love you too... Just not fair..." That you're so damn gorgeous.

He nudges me a bit. "What was that?"

Letting out a contented sigh, I shake my head. "Nothing."

"Danny."

"Jack." I quickly move, going back to my original seat and lunch. I had barely gotten a bite in me when I felt a piece of a sandwich crust land on my forehead and fall to my plate. I was bombarded again by another piece as I looked up at the mischievous expression clearly written on my lover's face.

Twenty minutes later, the dining area is a mess with scattered bits of food everywhere. Things had finally slowed down when we ran out of steam. We had started brushing food from each other's hair and shoulders when Jack decided to start a round of kisses. This went on only until a grumble interrupted us. Pulling back I look up to see Jack looking back at me with this goofy grin. He wasn't the only one that had needed food, and we did go without lunch so I suggested O'Malley's.

"Steak!"

I could only let out a snort of amusement and shake my head at his response as we got everything, including us, cleaned up before leaving. We end up spending the rest of the day out on a spur-of-the-moment. It wasn't until about nine-thirty or ten when it's past dark that we stumble back home, in a fit of laughs that everything suddenly goes wrong again.

Jack was the first one through the door. One second he was moving to make room for me to go inside, the next he was being tackled with a loud grunt. I moved after them just in time to watch my lover crashing on the floor with his attacker on top of him. They go on for what seems like hours but in reality what must have been five or ten minutes trying to gain the upper hand of each other. I try to find a weapon to stop our attacker but nothing looks suitable. As I turn back towards the struggle, I feel the wind being knocked out of me as I'm being pushed back.

"Dan-" Jack doesn't bother finishing my name as he just lets out a yell full of anger and hatred. He pulls the attacker from me and moves away as they go back to beating each other.

I start looking around for my glasses which was knocked off of me from being knocked down when my hand lands on something much heavier, colder and metallic then my glasses. A gun. I look up and raise it to shoot but I hesitate. Everything is a blur. Suddenly I see a flash of silver hair being pushed to the floor and a body following. I shoot, twice, hoping I don't miss. It takes me a minute to recover from the noise, flash and gunpowder's dust irritating my eyes. I was about to call out for Jack, only to see one body on top of another, both too still.

"God, no. Jack..." I throw the gun away from me as I shuffle towards them. "Jack, please, don't be-" A groan interrupts me. "Jack?"

In reply I hear him mumble what sounds like "Get the fuck off me!"

I can't help but sit back in relief. Alive. He's alive! It's not too long before with a grunt he's rolling the man over to free himself. As soon as he's free though, he makes a sudden move and starts a round of punches on the limp body.

"Jack, don't!" I quickly move to pull him away. "Jack, stop it! He's dead!" It takes several pulls but I manage to get him away. We both shuffle back to put some distance with the man and we go on to make sure we're both okay. It was when I pulled my hand away from the back of Jack's hand when feeling something wet that I looked up at Jack. Neither of us had time to react though as we both realize that police and paramedics had come in to the house. Of course. One of the neighbors must have called, if not for the noise from the fight, then most definitely the gun shots.

 

* * *

**Eight: Justice**

* * *

It's all over, finally over.

Jack received some stitches on the back of the head and was recovering from a concussion. When I had taken the shots and they had fell, his head had been knocked against the coffee table. The majority of the blood on him was from the man I shot. The first bullet had been a through and through on the shoulder. Thankfully it had landed on the wall instead of stopping in Jack. The second had lodged itself directly into the heart.

The other two had been convicted and put into prison. David Flint, the man who had made the phone call, had been given slightly less time than Jeffery Manners because of his cooperation. Jack hated the sentences given. He wanted them to be put in for life. A part of me agreed. Honestly, though? I really didn't give a flying rat's ass. I was just beyond relieved that this was over.

On the night of the sentencing I'm not sure what woke me up but the first thing that I notice is the sound of thunder and the room flashing from the lighting. I sit up against the headboard and turn on the nightstand light to look into Jack's eyes. He's worried. He also has guilt written in his expression.

"How long have you been up?"

"You're not fine."

"Yes I am."

"Danny, you've been having nightmares since it happened."

I'm not sure how to reply. It's true that I've been having nightmares that were triggered by what had happened, but they didn't have to do with the event itself.

"Is that why…" I let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "Why you won't have sex with me?"

Jack sinks back into the bed and rubs his face with a groan. I move so I can comfortably stroke his hair and gently massage out the frown etching his forehead.

"Jack, I promise you that they're not the reason for my nightmares. I swear."

He looks up at me with saddened eyes for a while. After a few minutes, as if a light switched had been switched on, his expression changes. "It was a foster parent wasn't it? The nightmares, that's the cause of it all."

I don't bother to answer. How do I? I just turn off the light to sink back into bed and curl up against him.

"Oh my god." He tries to sit up but I have a grip in him that won't let him. "Danny… Danny, look at me."

"Can we not talk about this? It was a long time ago." I don't want to talk about the past because partly from not wanting to relive the past. Mostly though I don't want him using whatever connections he has, or he himself, to go after the person responsible.

He gives up squirming, moving to wrap his arms securely around me instead. We go on in silence for a few more minutes before I feel his chest move as he exhales heavily. He's tense from the internal struggle and anger I know that's going inside him. He's torn between the need to stay with me, to be my support, and the anger raging inside to go after the man that hurt me.

"How old were you?" His voice is barely audible as he controls the emotions filling him.

"Jack, can you just forget about it? Please."

**~!~**

"Danny, I can handle getting out of the car!"

"Jack, you're hurt."

"I tripped and hit my head! I don't even have a concussion, just a headache and a scratch." That said Jack makes his way back to the house as I linger by the car.

We had just come back from our first off-world mission to try and make contact with the civilization there, but they didn't exactly welcome us with open arms. Instead they chased us back to the Stargate with spears, machetes, and bows and arrows. Teal'c had gone through the gate with one of the arrows stuck to his arm, but that was basically the only injury to worry about. It wasn't even really a big deal considering Teal'c was Jaffa and he would be completely healed within the next couple of days thanks to his symbiote. Jack, meanwhile, had tripped over a ditch and hit his head on a rock, which had caused the cut. I know there's no reason to worry about but something in me can't help feeling off.

"Danny?" Halfway to the house and noticing I wasn't following him, Jack stops to come back. "I'm fine, really." He lifts a hand to put on my shoulder but I jerk away from his touch. The experience with the thugs have me paranoid with any sort of public touch between us these days, even if it's a touch that would viewed as something between just best friends and no more.

I can hear him sigh and follow me when I stop at the door, noticing a thick envelope leaning against it. Picking it up, I see it has no markings at all. By the feel of it, it's obvious that there's a video cassette in it along with some paper. That's strange. I look up at Jack to mention it but his expression tells me he knows exactly what it is and where it came from. Oh god…

"What did you do?"

He doesn't answer. He just takes the envelope from me and goes inside the house.

"Jack, what did you do?" Panic starts to build in me. I'm scared he's done something illegal.

I follow Jack into the living room where he drops the envelope on the coffee table. He faces me but he looks at my feet instead of my face. "I wasn't sure how to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"I asked Carter to do some digging into the foster parents you were placed with. Some of them died. Some of them stopped being foster parents for different reasons. One couple went to jail because they found out that they were using the kids they put him with to steal." He scoffs at that. "That's where you learned how to pick locks wasn't it?"

I can't help but smile and even chuckle a little. I remember exactly who he's talking about. They actually weren't so bad. It wasn't the best environment and everyone knew what they were doing was wrong, but none of us really cared. Of course they made us do a good chunk of their dirty work, but we didn't complain. When you're a foster kid, shoved around from one crappy place to another, for a couple of crooks they were as close as you could hope for. They at least gave us attention, cared about us, even if it was all for the wrong reasons, and bribed us with things to keep us from having them found out. Actually, I'm pretty sure a couple of the older kids I was with actually enjoyed the stealing but that's beside the point.

"Anyways, I talked with some people who owed me favors." My head jerks up to look at him, in shock and fear, even though I had expected something like this. Seeing my reaction, he quickly says, "I only had them scout out the people who are still fostering and report them if there's anything fishy. There's a good handful out there that's currently being looked into but chances are they'll likely still be on the list as foster parents you know? The system - it's still complete crap."

"Jack, can you just get to the point please?"

He doesn't answer me. Jack simply opens the envelope, takes out the paper which turns out to be clippings from various local newspapers from New York. He flips through them and sighs (of what I'm not sure) before handing me the clippings. I skim through them and noticed they all basically say the same general thing.  _"Samuel McBannon, age sixty-eight, a foster parent from Queens has been charged and convicted for child molestation. His wife Barbara McBannon, age sixty-six, has also been charged for child abuse and negligence as an accessory, on account that she knew about her husband's doings. Evidence and confessions from various foster children under the McBannon care have shown that this has been going on for the thirty years, if not longer."_

I look up at Jack, not sure how to feel. A strange mix of numbness, relief, and surprise overcame me. I also felt a weight leave me. Truth be told, I think I've always carried around this great heaviness with me in the back of my subconscious from being raped by this man who was supposed to take care of me so many times.

"You okay?"

I jump a little as Jack's voice breaks my trance. A small hesitant scoff leaves my throat as I ask, "Are you?"

"C'mere." He takes my hand and lowers me on to the couch.

All I can do is sink back in the cushions as Jack gently rubs the back of my neck. Hmm. That feels nice. After a few minutes of enjoying his touch, I turn my head to face him. "I'm surprised you didn't go to New York just to kill him."

It's my lover's turn to sink back this time. He brings up his hands to rub his face. "I was so close…"

I can feel a small smile curl up at the corner of my lips as I turn us both around. I have one leg against the back of the couch, one foot on the floor, with my back leaned against the corner of the back and arm. Jack is in the same basic position in front of me so I can hold him as close as possible. God, he smells so good.

"Thank you…"

"For what?"

"Not torturing or killing him…"

I'm slightly taken aback when I hear and feel the small chuckle coming from him. "In this case, I'm kind of glad I didn't. Trust me; he's getting what he deserves, and then some in prison."

"What do you mean?"

"The Cons in prison have this hierarchy. The ones on top are basically ones who kill police. The ones in the bottom are scumbags' like that disgusting waste of flesh you were forced to. I think the dust bunnies there get more respect. They really don't like rapist or child molesters."

Well… good riddance. Finally, some justice.

 

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

 

With a groan I open my eyes as I start to lift myself up from the bed. My arms though are weak and shaky; unwilling to support me I find myself collapsing against a firm shoulder covering in chest hair that's matted with dried sweat. There's a shake and a laugh somewhere that I barely register as I feel a couple of arms pull me closer to the warm body I'm leaning against.

It takes some more time as I fully come to my senses with a contented sigh. I feel Jack kiss the top of my head before asking "You with me?"

"Hmmm…"

"That was… beyond amazing… God, I love you."

I can feel my cheeks heat up and a smile creeps across my lips as I bury my face in his shoulder. The memory of how we came to this situation starts to flood in. I'm not sure how we got to the living room to the bedroom, but we had somehow managed to crawl into bed naked. The intent was to simply sleep but damn it, I hadn't had some action in a while and was horny! I'll been damned if he kept what was mine away from me any longer, especially after all we've been through. This time had been the most forceful yet, resulting in my body being sore in places I didn't think possible. The high though didn't last long as panic started to sink in. Jack must have sense this because he was leaning up and nudging me down so he could look at me.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I didn't hurt you did I?" Oh god… If I'm feeling this sore and stiff, he had to be worse off. I quickly struggle to turn Jack around and make sure. I sighed and sank back down in relief. He was fine. In fact, during all this, he was chuckling in amusement. I give him a shove and with a raised voice I tell him "It's not funny!"

He sobers up quickly and apologies. We spend another good ten minutes just enjoying the bliss of being in each other's arms when I decide now's a good time as any to let him know.

"What? Danny, you're fine just the way you are."

"I know… but..."

We go on bantering about this. I want to start working out, and learn things that are more in league with Jack's training. Jack, obviously, is against it. A thought suddenly strikes me that will allow me to win this one.

"Fine, if you won't help me, I'll go to Sam, Lou, or Teal'c." I pause and stutter a bit before saying each name, as if thinking before each is said. Inside I can't help but smile as I see the flash of jealousy go through Jack's eyes. We both get jealous fairly easily, but Jack is more sensitive to outbursts, especially when the competition hits close enough that they're a threat.

"To hell they will!" He's suddenly enveloping himself around me, locking me in position leaving only one of my arms free. I simply run my fingers through the back of his head, massaging his scalp and neck, as he rests it in the crook of my neck. He then mumbles into it what sounds like the word "Mine!" in a possessive tone with a hint of childish innocence to it.

I feel myself be filled with the joy and love of this man. I kiss his hair, and bring him as closer (if possible) with my free arm. "Not going anywhere. I love you, too much." I feel his expression change into a happy smile, which just makes my world lighter.

Soon, Jack shifts and looks up at me. "Why do you need to do all this anyways?"

I shift and start to play with the stubble on Jack's chin. He tips his head slightly so he can kiss my palm. "I figure it'll help keep the trouble at bay…"

Jack just chuckles as he goes back to curling up against me. "No such thing. You and trouble just can't stay away from each other. It wouldn't last, trying to keep you two apart."

Gotcha, "Care to raise the stakes on that?"

There's a playful grin of excitement on Jack's face as he looks up me. "What you got for me?"

"I bet I can stay away from trouble a lot longer than you can stay away from me."

I don't know how but I manage to keep myself from bursting out in laughter at Jack's torn expression. A part of him wants to win, so he glances around the room trying to decide. We both know that's a lost cause as his need to be with me as much as possible pretty much is what fuels his way of living these days. With a resigned groan, he says "You win."

"Good. Than you can start by…"


End file.
